14. Melting Point (11)
14. Melting Point (11)
Reina's shadow was born from her longing to be acknowledged as the "real Reina," a desire that rejected every version of herself older than four.
In a way, the rift between her and the shadow was bound to widen. Her waking self moved further into the future day by day, while the shadow stubbornly clung to her four-year-old self.
Everyone carries some darkness within. Most people learn to manage it in their own way.
But her case wasn't something drugs or therapy could fix. She had grasped the truth in the domain of a Demon God, immediately after facing the dormant body of Chaos itself. The psychic shock had branded her as a curse, etched into her flesh by that same Demon God.
How could he cure her? Wonderstein was still pondering the question while his tongue traced the inside of her thigh. He felt her body begin to slide downward. Her legs trembled uncontrollably — she clearly couldn't stay on her feet.
"Haaah... D-Dad... I... I can't... ah, stop..."
Eyes brimming with tears, she looked at him in desperate appeal. Drool spilled from her lips, her pupils unfocused. The pleasure had swallowed her whole.
He offered her a gentle smile and then gave the order in a voice that brooked no argument.
"Go outside and get on your hands and knees now."
"I-I don't want... If... if we keep going like this, I'll..."
Wonderstein knew this was a moment for firmness. Constant gentleness wasn't what a child needed. Sometimes the rod was necessary.
He brought his palm down hard on her backside.
Smack.
A flush of red bloomed across her pale skin. She let out a moan — impossible to tell if it was pain or pleasure — and collapsed against him.
"Ahhn...!"
"Do you want to be punished by your dad?"
He was smiling, but his voice had gone hard. Reina stared up at him, her expression wobbling on the edge of tears.
"B-But... if this keeps going, I won't... won't be me anymore... *hic*!"
Smack.
Wonderstein spanked her again. Harder this time.
Then he leaned in and whispered against her ear.
"Shut up and get on all fours."
"*Hic*... D-Don't say it so mean..."
Face crumpled in genuine fright, Reina stumbled out of the bath. Her normally gentle dad only had to raise his voice a little to terrify her. She pressed herself to the floor, backside thrust back.
Wonderstein followed, wedged his knees between her thighs to force her legs apart, and pinned her calves down with both arms so she couldn't squirm away. He pressed his nose between her cheeks and traced the tip of his tongue around the opening that had been too deep to reach from inside.
"Aahhhn!"
Her hips bucked wildly. He ignored it and kept doggedly at his task of washing her.
The moment he had cleaned every inch of her, the Member Quest completion message finally appeared. All the strength drained from her body. Through drooping eyelids, she gazed at him and spoke.
"Dad... later, okay...? We definitely... have to go outside and play..."
She lost consciousness with those words. Wonderstein rinsed her quickly under the stream of water, gathered her into his arms, and carried her out of the bath.
The aggressive physical attention had been a deliberate rush to put her to sleep. If he let the shadow-self run loose unchecked, there was no telling what it might do.
This time, he had barely managed to placate her demands to go outside and play by dangling a bath as bait. He couldn't count on the same trick working twice.
She was a world-class acrobat. If she genuinely set her mind to escaping, even he would struggle to catch her. He could flood the whole inn with tentacles and thrash around until the building collapsed just to catch her — but that would bring every troupe member running, and Reina's secret would be exposed. He had to prevent that, for the sake of her reputation.
He laid her on the bed and studied her sleeping face with worried eyes. In the soft lamplight, she looked like a marble sculpture. Her shoulders, chest, waist, and hips formed a flawless line, and her skin was utterly without blemish.
Yurakne's body had more sheer physical mass. But she also had soft spots, and her chest and backside held a certain plumpness that was beginning to yield to gravity. Reina, on the other hand — he had confirmed this firsthand — had much firmer, more toned muscle. She was unmistakably one of the Comprachicos' masterworks.
Wonderstein gently stroked her cheek as she slept. He had managed to contain the situation so far, but he couldn't keep doing this for her indefinitely.
'Kirkeus. This happened because of your power, didn't it? Isn't there a way to fix her?'
He murmured the half-hearted complaint in his mind, and a chime rang out as a quest window materialized before him. He hastily scanned the text.
*Sub Quest — Lahaina Noon
: Reina's shadow denies everything about herself past the age of four. To guide her to the present, you must show her that life beyond four is worth living. Identify the moments of regret from her past and fulfill them, in order.
Clear Condition
: Before Reina's social age reaches 19, raise the shadow's age to match her social age.
Success Reward
: [Persona — Weeping Woman] can be freely equipped and removed.
Failure Penalty
: [Persona — Weeping Woman] will be destroyed. The [Shadow] will permanently dominate Reina's mind.
Lahaina Noon.
An equatorial phenomenon where, at the moment sunlight strikes at exactly 90 degrees, a person's shadow vanishes entirely beneath them. He had seen a video about it once on YouTube: a long stick's shadow creeping shorter and shorter until, at high noon, it pulled itself completely beneath the stick and disappeared. The quest name seemed chosen to suggest a union of self and shadow — the shadow hidden entirely under the self.
"Identify and fulfill the moments of regret from her past, in order?"
He could see the quest's rough structure at a glance.
Her shadow only behaved like a four-year-old, but it held the full memories of the life she had lived. Somewhere in that life were regrets — moments when she wished things had gone differently. By granting those wishes one by one, he could coax the four-year-old shadow bit by bit into older ages.
First, he placed the mask onto her to bring her fully awake. As always, the instant she opened her eyes, she scrambled to bow to him, flustered as ever.
"I-I'm so grateful for your care again today!"
"Please put some clothes on first. I have something important to tell you."
"Y-Yes!"
Seated across from her, Wonderstein laid out his treatment plan. He translated the quest's contents into a more plausible explanation as he talked.
When he finished, she nodded, visibly impressed.
"That sounds like a good idea."
"Then will you trust me and follow my lead?"
"Yes. Of course."
They exchanged a brief, smiling glance and settled into the details.
"I don't think skipping too far ahead all at once will work. A four-year-old isn't likely to understand a twelve-year-old's desires. Let's start with small steps. When you were five or six, was there anything you really wanted to do but couldn't?"
"Five or six... My mother was still alive then..."
In those years, she had lacked nothing. She had grown up showered with love from both parents. Overprotected, perhaps, since she had died once and been brought back, but still...
A thought struck her, and Reina gave a little gasp.
"There is something!"
A message flickered into Wonderstein's vision at the same moment.
[Member Quest — Reina, Age 5 has been activated.]
Wonderstein listened to her story while reviewing the quest details.
It was exactly what he'd expected. The clear condition was to grant the wish she'd been denied at age five; the reward would advance the shadow to age five.
But the quest's content itself... was far from trivial.
***
The members of the Monster Circus Troupe arrived at their new lodgings and each took some personal time the following day. Most of them, fatigued from yesterday's journey, opted to stay in. They gathered around a table first thing in the morning, broke out the Wonderworld cards, and started playing.
"Wonderstein, then! I leave her in your hands!"
Minova was deep in a card game with Gaston, Sven, and Bandik when he spotted Wonderstein and Ruelo descending the stairs, ready for their outing. He shot to his feet. Over his shoulder, Wonderstein caught the three of them swapping cards with quick, practiced hands. He nodded, suppressing a laugh.
"You can count on me."
"Ahem. Are you quite sure you'll be all right on your own?"
Minova turned a worried gaze on his daughter. She stood at Wonderstein's side, clutching his trousers tightly.
"Yes. Miss Reina is coming too, so please don't worry."
"Ahem. Thank you. I'd go along myself, of course, but since you said you were going out anyway, I'm grateful you're taking her along. Ah, and where is Reina?"
"She went ahead to the main street to flag down a carriage."
"Ahem. I see. Good. In that case... our girl, you are to listen to the Troupe Leader and your older sister, and you stick right with them! No letting go, understood!"
"Okay. Got it."
Under Minova's watchful eye, the pair set out from the inn.
Maya watched them leave, her spirits sinking. When she heard Wonderstein and Reina were going out together, she had immediately tried to join them. But Wonderstein had refused, saying he couldn't push her when she had only just recovered her senses.
"Next time, Miss Maya — if your legs have improved by then, I'll carry you on my back and take you out myself. All right?"
"...All right."
Maya had accepted his reasoning meekly. She figured that as long as Ruelo was with them, not even Reina could try anything too outrageous with the Troupe Leader.
"Play nicely with Samson, then."
Two blocks from the inn, Ruelo handed control of her body to Samson and retreated into the back of her consciousness. Today's excursion was, in truth, Samson's wish, not hers.
None of the other troupe members knew it, but she occasionally yielded her body to him. She pitied him, unable to show himself in front of others. Even her own father, Minova, had no idea she and Samson traded places like this.
"An outing with the Creator. This pleases me. I trust it will be an entertaining route."
Giving up an entire half-day like this was rare, but Ruelo had made a special concession because the outing was with Wonderstein. She considered him Samson's father.
"Samson, please act like a child. Like a child. Ruelo is six years old."
"Impossible. And where is Reina? We were supposed to meet here, were we not?"
The fact that Samson and Ruelo switched bodies within the circus was known to only two people: Wonderstein and Clara. Or rather, that had been true as of yesterday. Today, one more person had joined that number.
Wonderstein glanced back into the alley.
"Are you done changing, Reina?"
"...Yes, D-Dad..."
Reina emerged from the alley, steps hesitant.
Something was off about her demeanor. She kept herself hunched, shooting nervous glances around as though terrified someone might see her. It was a strange sight, wholly unlike the poised woman who always walked with the straight-backed, model-like confidence that was her hallmark.
And yet even her posture wasn't as bizarre as her outfit. This wasn't about the ghost mask she normally wore — right now, her face was bare. The problem was her clothing.
Wonderstein regarded her with a deliberately solemn voice.
"Today I'm not Dad. You're to call me 'Teacher.'"
"R-Right... T-Teacher..."
"Your outfit is lovely. It suits our Reina very well, don't you think?"
Reina's face went crimson, as if it might combust. Samson, who had been staring at her, spoke flatly.
"Weren't you seventeen?"
"Uuuugh..."
Humiliating herself like this in front of someone she had considered a much younger sibling was too much. She squeezed her eyes shut.
She was wearing an exact copy of Ruelo's outfit. The Costume Room had scaled the garment up to fit her body, but the original design was meant for a child with an undeveloped physique. Sized to match her mature figure, the dress still left a great deal of her legs exposed.
But the exposure wasn't what shamed her. It was the clothes themselves.
The sky-blue dress, the white shirt-collar, the childish yellow hat — even the matching bag.
At five years old, she had gazed out her window with envy, watching other children play in clothes exactly like these.
*Member Quest — Reina, Age 5
: At five years old, Reina wanted to play with other children her age. Her parents refused. She was confined to her house, left to watch them through the window.
Clear Condition
: Give Reina the experience of attending kindergarten.
Success Reward
: [Shadow — 4-Year-Old Reina] evolves into [Shadow — 5-Year-Old Reina].
Failure Penalty
: None.